Minnesota WWII Memorial Starts To Take Shape

Through glass and granite, Minnesota's new World War II memorial will attempt to give a big picture of the war and tell the individual stories of the Minnesotans who were a part of it. It has been 60 years since the war's end. And most of the Minnesotans who served have passed away. The Minnesota World War II Veterans Memorial will feature 12 glass panels anchored in granite, with etchings depicting various scenes from the war.Now, after years of trying, officials will break ground today for a $1 million memorial on the state Capitol grounds to remember the state's part in the epic war. "All I can say is, it's been too long," said World War II Navy Veteran Robert E. Hansen, 79, of Inver Grove Heights. His brother Army Lt. Harry Hansen died in the war. The larger story of the war's losses and triumphs will be told through the granite, which may be quarried from Ely, Minn., said one of the designers, Ben Sporer. To symbolize the war's death and destruction, a descending slope of rough, black granite will stretch 3 feet into the ground. To represent the victory, an exact mold of the sculpture will be flipped over and covered in plants and flowers to create an ascending slope that rises 3 feet from the ground, Sporer said. Visitors will get a glimpse today of the memorial plans, which took Sporer, another landscape architect and two artists two years to design. Groundbreaking is scheduled at 12:30 p.m. south of the state Capitol in front of the Veterans Services Building. The entire elliptical memorial will sit on an acre of the Capitol grounds. The two sculptural elements will be surrounded by 10 glass monuments anchored in granite slabs. Each will display photos and stories baked into the glass that describe Minnesota's involvement in the war. "If we can manage to create that emotional connection back to what real people experienced during those times, then I think we'll have succeeded," said Andrea Myklebust, a sculptor who conducted much of the research and interviews for the text of the memorial. At the center of the memorial will be a map of Minnesota, surrounded by bronze stars and the glass panels.Large design panels are expected to be on display today in the Capitol rotunda and representatives from the state Veterans Affairs department will be on hand to give a behind-the-scenes look at the memorial's design and symbolism. Of the 326,000 Minnesotans who served in World War II, 6,284 were killed during the war and fewer than 70,000 are alive today, according to the state Veterans Affairs Department. Among Minnesota's World War II veterans were both of Sporer's grandfathers. One died in the last two years while Sporer was working on the design. The other, Max Sporer, may make it to today's ceremony, the younger Sporer said. "I thought it would be a great opportunity to try to honor them personally, as well as the other Minnesota veterans involved," Ben Sporer said. While organizers have tried for several years to land funding, it is not clear why no such memorial was built in the years after the war's end. Hansen suggests it is because it couldn't capture the efforts of Americans back home building ships and rationing food. Or perhaps because "the world was a monument" for their sacrifices "to save it." The project is at least seven years in the making. Legislative approval for $670,000 in state funds stalled until this year. The remainder of the $1 million project and maintenance costs will come from private donations, which still are being collected. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall, and could be finished as early as next summer, Sporer said.